View full sizeAdonis M. Bell, 31, of Jersey City, was arrested yesterday and charged with the manslaughter of Jackie Benekin, 23, last November.Hudson County Prosecutor's Office

A Jersey City man will make his first court appearance today on charges he beat a man to death in a Jersey City school yard in November, officials said.

Adonis M. Bell, 31, of Mina Drive, was arrested yesterday and charged with the manslaughter of Jackie Benekin, 23, who was found unconscious at School 40 on Gates Avenue on Nov. 17, Hudson County Acting Prosecutor Gaetano Gregory announced today.

Jersey City police officers responding to the school to disperse a crowd of 15 to 20 people at 2 a.m. that morning found Benekin unconscious on the ground, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino said. Benekin was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center where he died from his injuries on four days later, Rubino said.

The cause of Benekin's death was determined to be complications from blunt force trauma and the manner of his death was ruled a homicide, based on the preliminary report on an autopsy performed at the state Regional Medical Examiner's Office in Newark, Rubino said.

Homicide detectives believe the incident began as a verbal altercation between Bell and Benekin inside the nearby Candlelight Bar and that led to a physical altercation in the school yard, Rubino said.

The investigation led to a warrant being issued for Bell's arrest, and he turned himself in to detectives of the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Squad yesterday, Rubino said. Bell's bail has been set at $100,000 cash or bond and he will make his first appearance on the charge in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City this afternoon.

Manslaughter is a second degree crime and carries a possible sentence of five to 10 years in prison upon conviction.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345.